Baltimore County's Shop with a Cop connects officers and children ahead of holidays
BALTIMORE -- The 22nd Shop with a Cop event in Baltimore County is the largest event of its kind in Maryland.
As the holidays inch closer, officers are beefing up patrols and making time to form friendships, too.
For one officer and child, that moment meant much more.
Lexi Ramos is a few days shy of turning nine, but she isn't shopping for herself this year.
"I got a soccer ball for my dad, this board game, again, for my mom and I, this for my brother, my older brother, and this for my oldest brother, and lip gloss for my sister," Ramos said.
Ramos has been shopping for her family alongside someone special.
"Detective Jay Sappington," Ramos said.
This isn't the first time the duo have crossed paths.
A few months ago, Ramos was in a serious car accident.
Baltimore City Police said the accident happened in the 800 block of Westminster Pike on July 12, 2023, at around 8 p.m.
Officers on patrol that day learned that a food truck was parked at a nearby business when it was hit by another vehicle.
The collision caused the hot oil that was being used for cooking to splash on people inside the food truck.
Ramos was inside the food truck at the time of the crash and was hurt.
She was taken to a local hospital by ambulance with serious injuries according to police.
The driver of the other vehicle also sustained injuries and was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Sappington is a member of the Baltimore County Police Crash Team and helped save Ramos' life. He learned about the crash from his team members, but it wasn't until he and Ramos were shopping that he realized she was the victim of the food truck accident.
Sappington volunteered to do "Shop With A Cop," not knowing who the participating child would be.
He said they had a wonderful time together. Considering the trauma that Ramos had endured from the accident, he believed that it was "through the grace of God" that they were paired up and he was able to make her happy as they shopped for Christmas presents.
"Thank you," Ramos told Sappington.
They are just one story among more than 100 officers and children at Baltimore County's annual shop with a cop.
"I'm going to get my cousin Blessing this. She would like this– yeah– it's a sticky octopus," Harmony Norwood said.
Together they filled their carts with gifts for their loved ones.
"It is interesting because when the children are given an opportunity to shop, they don't always want to shop for themselves," Chief Robert McCullough, the Chief of Police for Baltimore County, said. "They're always looking to buy things for their siblings or for their parents."
The shopping experience breaks down barriers and helps participants make memories.
"It makes you feel good inside and it makes everybody that comes feel good inside to do something for somebody else," Mickey Price of the Timonium Optimist Club said.
The Optimist Club of Baltimore County helps provide gift cards to all of the children who have the opportunity to shop. Each child was able to spend $125.
